Non-Governmental Organizations
The next day, Andrei woke up in the arms of a green-eyed girl. It took him a full ten minutes to remember that the girl's name was Anna, or perhaps Lina? Andrei then spent another five minutes pondering this question before hesitantly uttering, "Anna..."
"Anna sleeps next door!" The girl's face fell.
"Ah... I'm sorry... I... I really..." Andrei was immediately at a loss. Andrei, of course, knew the identity of this girl, who might be named Lina, and wouldn't have any foolish thoughts. However, after spending the night with her, to call her by the wrong name the very next morning was really a bit...
Seeing Andrei's expression, the girl couldn't help but reach out and smile, her lips pursed. This gesture caused a corner of the thin blanket draped over her shoulders to slip down, revealing her smooth shoulders, which reflected a soft halo in the morning light, though the girl didn't notice at all.
"Andrei, I was just kidding," the girl said. "I'm Anna, and Lina is next door."
"Ah," Andrei tapped his head lightly, "I really drank a bit too much last night... my comrade..."
"You mean Mr. Peter? He probably won't get up for a while," the girl, who might be called Anna, replied. "What, are you planning to get up?"
"Yes, what time is it now?"
The girl pointed to the other side. "The clock is right there, see for yourself."
Andrei had no idea where the clock was. To be honest, he was so drunk last night that he didn't even know how he got into the room. After that, he was busy with exercise, so how could he have noticed these furnishings that had nothing to do with exercise?
Andrei turned his head and looked in that direction. There was a grandfather clock there, and the hour hand was pointing to nine o'clock.
"Ah!" Andrei jumped out of bed as if he'd been electrocuted. "Damn it, it's already nine o'clock! There are definitely no seats left."
"Andrei, what seat? Are you in a hurry?" The girl frowned slightly, seemingly blaming Andrei for being so clueless.
"Ah, the library seats, after lunch, I'm sure I won't be able to get any!" Andrei jumped up, grabbed the clothes he had thrown on the ground last night, and hurriedly put them on.
"Let me help you." The girl also got up and helped Andrei get dressed while smiling. "You must be studying mechanical engineering or something, right?"
"Oh, how did you know?"
"Only those who study these things would be thinking about grabbing a seat in the library at this time. Art students like Mr. Peter don't need to worry about these things at all," the girl said.
Do you know any mechanical engineering students?
"I know a few. They're all like you; the first thing they do when they wake up in the morning is ask for the time," the girl said with a smile.
Andrei finished dressing, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I should go. Hmm, is Anatole next door?"
"That's probably true. If he didn't change rooms last night."
Andrei nodded, then turned around and gave the girl a light hug. He then opened the door and went to the door next door. Just as he was about to knock, he heard faint sounds of laughter coming from inside. Andrei lowered his raised hand.
After a while, the sounds inside showed no sign of stopping.
Andrei stood awkwardly at the door for a moment, then turned around and walked back to Anna, saying, "Anna, when my friend comes out, please tell him I'm going home now."
"Okay, but I can assure you, he won't come out until lunchtime."
Andrei nodded and prepared to leave. He looked around but didn't know where to go.
"Let me see you out, Andrei." Anna came over and took his hand.
Andrei left the Moulin Rouge and came out onto the street. It was almost 9:30 or 10:00 in the morning, but the streets were as quiet as midnight. Apart from a few policemen patrolling on horseback, there was hardly anyone else on the street—this was a place where day and night were reversed.
Andrei walked to the station by himself, where only a few empty carriages were now parked, none of the horses on them. Looking around, he could only see a two-wheeled light carriage still with horses harnessed, and the driver was standing to the side smoking a pipe.
Andrei quickly stepped forward to explain that he needed to return to the University of Paris. The driver then quoted a price that Andrei desperately wanted to refuse, and resolutely refused to haggle.
"You won't be able to get a public carriage before noon," the coachman said.
So Andrei had no choice but to let the coachman rip him off and hurried back to grab a seat in the library after lunch.
Meanwhile, in the Moulin Rouge, Lucien had also woken up from the embrace of several pairs of smooth, soft arms. He sat up on his oversized bed, surrounded by several beautiful young women, including the one who had led the singing and dancing on the Moulin Rouge stage the night before.
Several girls helped Lucien get dressed and wash up. Someone else pulled a rope that was connected to a copper bell.
A little while later, someone brought in breakfast. Lucien sat down at the table to eat, and several girls sat beside him, taking turns feeding Lucien.
After the meal, Emma, Lucien's secretary, entered carrying a briefcase, and the other girls discreetly withdrew. After they left, Emma took a report from her briefcase and handed it to him.
Besides being a money-making den of iniquity, the Moulin Rouge was also a very important intelligence station for the Ministry of Truth. Most of the girls there also worked for the Ministry of Ministry of Truth's investigation department, and in every room, in the beds, sofas, and other places, there were hidden copper pipes for eavesdropping. At any time, there was an eavesdropping ear behind these copper pipes.
Lucien glanced at the list briefly. It mainly concerned small groups of foreign students, offering little new information. These guys, after drinking too much, started complaining about their own countries and wanting to adopt the entire France system for complete Frenchification. Aside from that, there were various reliable and unreliable rumors and court secrets they mentioned. Some of these things were indeed worth verifying.
After Lucien finished reading, he handed the document to Emma to reassemble, and then gave it to the intelligence investigation department for analysis and archiving.
Frankly, very few people actually discuss conspiracies and such at the Moulin Rouge. Spies from any country know that the Moulin Rouge might be an important stronghold of the Ministry of Truth. However, a lot of economic intelligence can still be obtained from the Moulin Rouge, and with this intelligence, and by verifying the overt actions of various governments, many secrets are no longer secrets.
Furthermore, students from Austria, Russia, and even England generally expressed dissatisfaction with the state of their own countries. They typically attributed France's success and their countries' relative failures to differences in their systems compared to France.
"Also, have our people try to make contact with these organizations, of course, under other civilian identities," Lucien continued, giving instructions.
The so-called "civilian identity" refers to a series of "non-governmental organizations" under the control of the Ministry of Truth. Over the past year, various "non-governmental organizations" have emerged, taking advantage of freedom of association. Most of these organizations claim that they are also non-profit organizations, and that their purpose is simply to make the world a better place.
The earliest of these organizations were academic, such as Doctors Without Borders. Then came various high-profile political and economic organizations, such as the World Anti-Torture Alliance, the Free Trade Promotion Association, Fitch Ratings, the World Anti-Hunger Alliance, and the Human Rights Promotion Association. Following that were various cultural organizations, such as the Free Writers Association.
These organizations are theoretically unrelated to the government, do not even belong to any country, and are "non-profit" (their operating funds mainly come from donations from social elites). Therefore, they appear exceptionally neutral and reliable. However, in reality, the largest donors to these "non-profit" organizations have always been some little-known subordinate agencies of the Ministry of Truth.
Soon, the members of the "Alliance for the Promotion of Democracy and Freedom" found the newly established Russia "Salvation Society".